The job of merging the various technology systems that help Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp. and Tempe’s US Airways Group run could take as long as four years and cost millions of dollars, experts say.

When you look at the combined company’s “to-do” technology list, you can start to see why.

“Integration is usually a difficult exercise,” said Rod Berger of New York-based Bergmen Consulting. “Associated costs and chances of success are hard to predict. It also creates a technical debt that will burden the airline when changes are needed in the future.”

Berger estimates the process of joining the two carriers’ various systems will take roughly three or four years. “We would anticipate nine months to establish the program, 18 months to get core business systems unified, and an additional 12 months to connect the ancillary solutions and fix issues,” he said.

The cost of merging the two carriers’ systems would “definitely” be in the millions of dollars, according to Mark Ondrey, president of Minnesota-based Velozation Airline Technology Services.

AMR (OTC: AAMRQ) and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) will face some big issues as they do the job, ranging from integrating systems to dealing with possible behind-the-scenes turf battles, Ondrey said.

At the same time, the merger provides opportunities to replace aging technology systems and bring efficiencies to the combined company, he said.

And as the new airline whittles down the number of software applications and business partners it has, it “should anticipate a decrease in maintenance, support, infrastructure and licensing costs,” Berger added.

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.